True life story : HIV in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: I Wanted to Raise My Hand - HIV Can Be Manageable in Zimbabwe

When I came to the UK in September 2015 to study at the University of Sussex, I was told that the HIV medication I was on, was not available, which was frustrating.
It was frustrating because instead of taking a single pill containing different antiretroviral drugs, as I had been doing at home in Zimbabwe, I now had to take three different pills a day.
I'm in the UK studying for a Masters in Development Studies and recently we had a class discussing what role health plays in the interaction with citizenship. The main subject was HIV, and it was interesting to see the different assumptions people make because of the difference in prevalence in HIV between countries such as the UK and Zimbabwe.
Access to antiretroviral medication
In the UK in 2014, the adult rate of HIV prevalence was 0.19 per cent (AVERT) compared to 16.7 per cent in Zimbabwe (UNAIDS). Furthermore, in the UK 91 per cent of HIV positive adults are on treatment compared to 63.4 per cent in Zimbabwe (UNAIDS).
It is well known that poverty is a driver of HIV, and of course the UK and Zimbabwe have very different economic situations which can help explain the difference in HIV statistics. Everyone in the UK, should they need it, has access to antiretrovirals which is very unlike the situation in some parts of Zimbabwe.

Source : All Africa News

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